Thursday, August 14, 2008

On Aug. 4, as local residents prepared for deteriorating weather conditions, Kathryn "Kristi" Fridge made a last-minute stop at the Wal-Mart at FM 1764 and Interstate 45 with her mother and 2-year-old daughter.Finding the batteries shelf bare, she expressed her displeasure and disbelief to her mother."I was like, 'Dang.' I looked at my mom and said, 'They're all ----ing gone," Fridge recalled.Suddenly, Capt. Alfred Decker, the La Marque assistant fire marshal, appeared from around the corner, dressed in a fire department uniform."He said, 'You need to watch your mouth,' " Fridge said.Perplexed by who the man was — his badge said "fire department" — Fridge offered a scant apology."I was like, 'Oh, OK. Sorry?' " she said.Fridge walked away, but said the man ordered her to come back. She then protested, telling him she was having a private conversation with her mother that was none of his business. When the man ordered her to come to him and she refused, she said he pulled out his handcuffs.Chief defends the actionLa Marque Fire Chief Todd Zacherl said Fridge made such a scene in the Wal-Mart that night, disrupting the peace, that Decker had no choice but to act."She cussed him, she cussed everybody. By now, we have a huge group of people looking," Zacherl said.Fridge emphatically denied that, saying while she did curse in casual conversation with her mother, she never cursed at Decker, even during their confrontation. Her mother agreed."She never got nasty with him, she never cussed at him," said Fridge's mother, Kathryn Rice of Santa Fe....Zacherl said the assistant fire marshal had no choice."When you're in uniform, you have to uphold the laws," the fire chief said. "It's like if he was on the way home and saw a drunk driver — he had to act."

So, to make a long story short, this woman -- who was likely under a considerable amount of stress, all things considered -- uttered a single obscenity in a normal tone of voice in a private conversation, and for that this asshole fire marshal goes on a power trip and his asshole boss defends him, actually going so far as to effectively compare this woman with a drunk driver. Sweet bleedin' Barnabus on a pogo stick, it's just about enough to make liberty-minded men go marching on the fire station with torches and AK-47s. "You have to uphold the laws." Yeah, well, chief, the law is an ASS. And apparently so are you and your immediate subordinate.

Unorganized Militia Propaganda Corps

About Me

I am a very opinionated guy, Texan and quite proud of it. I lean toward the right politically but have a few libertarian tendencies that my conservative brothers and sisters might not agree with. I like guns, old country music and a lot of other things.

Essential Reading

False is the idea of utility that sacrifices a thousand real advantages for one imaginary or trifling inconvenience; that would take fire from men because it burns, and water because one may drown in it; that has no remedy for evils, except destruction. The laws that forbid the carrying of arms are laws of such a nature. They disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes. Can it be supposed that those who have the courage to violate the most sacred laws of humanity, the most important of the code, will respect the less important and arbitrary ones, which can be violated with ease and impunity, and which, if strictly obeyed, would put an end to personal liberty -- so dear to men, so dear to the enlightened legislator -- and subject innocent persons to all the vexations that the guilty alone ought to suffer? Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man.-- Cesare Beccaria, in On Crimes And Punishments, later quoted by Thomas Jefferson

Echo

The best we can hope for concerning the people at large is that they be properly armed.-- Alexander Hamilton